Women's Basketball: Costa Rica trip, WNIT title started Iowa State on 'special' season

By Hayes GardnerStaff Writerhgardner@amestrib.com

Tuesday

Mar 19, 2019 at 2:48 PM

It’s hard to pinpoint when a season becomes special.

Seasons are long, and they’re not without ups and downs, which makes turning points difficult to categorize. Often, there are several.

For the Iowa State women’s basketball team, the 2018-19 season has been unmistakably special. The Cyclones finished second in the Big 12 for the first time since 2013 and earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament — their highest seeding since 2002 — and the right to host opening round games. Now, ISU will face No. 14-seed New Mexico State around 5 p.m. in Hilton Coliseum on Saturday.

There’s been so many promising moments for the Cyclones (25-8) in this revitalizing season: winning a neutral-site game in senior Bridget Carleton’s hometown, topping Drake at home in an instant classic, coming back on the road against Texas Tech for a dramatic finish, knocking off Texas in an energetic Big 12 tournament semifinal.

But the moment that ISU players realized, the moment they knew, that this season wouldn’t be anything like last year’s losing campaign, came in November.

“When we won the WNIT, I was like: ‘This team has something special,’” sophomore Maddie Wise told the Ames Tribune.

ISU played all four games of that preseason tournament in Hilton, knocking off Niagara and Northern Illinois to start. Then, they held on to beat Auburn — an NCAA Tournament team — in the most dramatic women’s game played at Hilton this season. And finally, throttled ranked Miami, now a No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament, for the WNIT crown.

“We won the WNIT tournament, we beat a ranked team right away, so we were like ‘Okay, we can actually do something this year. We could have something special,’” Carleton told the Tribune.

It sure was the start of something special. After the game, the Cyclones cut down the net and mobbed Carleton as she was awarded the All-Tournament MVP. Wise, whose emergence as a defensive stopper was evident during the tournament, was also named to the All-Tournament team.

Soon after, ISU entered the AP Top-25 for the first time since 2014.

“This team has improved a lot from last year," Carleton told the Tribune. "Maybe that comes from the success we’re having on the court, but I think once you’re on one ride, it keeps going. One win builds off another win, builds off another win."

The Cyclones began the season 5-0 and finished non-conference play 10-2 before stringing together their best conference winning percentage (.722) since 2005.

The WNIT success set the tone, and the team’s off-court camaraderie only maintained that tenor.

“I think it’s been really important to us, just how close we are off the court, and I think that really translates for us," Wise told the Tribune." We’re all completely best friends."

ISU coach Bill Fennelly considers this team to have, perhaps, the best chemistry of any team he’s coached in his 24 years in Ames. He pointed to an August trip as one foundation for that bond.

Months before the season began, the entire ISU team visited Costa Rica for a week to play three scrimmages and tour the country. Because Carleton spent much of the offseason with Team Canada, transfer Ines Nezerwa didn’t arrive in Ames until July, Meredith Burkhall spent a chunk of her summer recovering from a health scare, and other logistics, the trip to Central America was the first time the entire roster of 14 was together for an extended period of time.

“I think the Costa Rica trip with this team, was a huge plus, because they did get to connect and get to know each other better,” Fennelly told the Tribune. “I was worried about it at first, but it turned out to be a huge plus.”

A busy week together in a foreign place could be stressful, which is why Fennelly was concerned. Instead, by all accounts, it was a positive experience.

“It was a good way to get to know each other,” Carleton told the Tribune. “Yeah, there were three basketball games, but it was more of a team bonding experience.”

If the Costa Rica trip laid the foundation for a successful season, then the WNIT victory formed the season’s roots. Now, with 25 wins and counting, the Cyclones are enjoying the fruits of their labor.

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